Madagascar
lies 250 miles off the southeast coast of Africa and was close to two trading
routes: the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Small bands of native peoples
populated the island, but none lived in close proximity to each other,
and some welcomed the pirates to their shores. The fact that no European
power held the island also made Madagascar appealing to pirates because
it lacked laws and religious morals. It also met the other criteria
of a perfect haven because it had sheltered coves, abundant supplies of
food and fresh water—including limes and oranges needed to prevent scurvy—and
beaches ideal for scraping barnacles from ships’ hulls.

Madagascar became a particular favorite of pirates before
the Golden
Age of Piracy. French privateers, who preyed on ships sailing
the Red Sea, first used it as a base of operations sometime before 1614.
Later, the island attracted more pirates in part because plundering the
Caribbean became less and less profitable. Voyages by Spanish galleons
laden with treasure grew infrequent. Port Royal never regained its
popularity with the pirates after the devastating earthquake that struck
Jamaica in 1692. Tortuga became a quiet reputable port under French
control. Peace finally came to Europe, so countries ceased to offer
letters of marque permitting pirates to legally prey on enemy ships.
Perhaps of more import to pirates was the fact that fewer countries tolerated
piracy. More naval ships patrolled Caribbean waters with the express
purpose of hunting down and prosecuting any who dared to attack ships at
sea.

Bands of pirates established a variety of bases on Madgascar.
Usually each was under the command of a single pirate referred to as a
king.
The primary enclaves included Ranter Bay, Saint Augustine’s Bay, Réunion
Island, Mauritius, Johanna Island, Fort Dauphin, and Île Sainte Marie.
The last proved very popular with pirates, and by 1700 around 1,500 of
them lived there and seventeen vessels made it their home port. Within
five years, the pirates were well-entrenched, so much so that European
nations began to worry about the effect buccaneers like Thomas Tew, Henry
Every, and William
Kidd were having on trade.

Perhaps the most famous pirate haven on Madagascar was
Libertalia. Yet to this day no evidence exists that such a place
ever existed or that its founder, a pirate captain by the name of Misson,
ever lived. The only mention of either of them occurs in Captain
Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates.

Libertalia was far more than just a haven for pirates.
It was a utopia. According to Johnson’s account: Ours is a brave,
a just, an innocent, and a noble cause; the cause of liberty.
I advise a white ensign, with liberty painted in the fly, and if you like
the motto, A Deo a Libertate, For God and Liberty, as an emblem
of our uprightness and resolution.… The men, who lent an attentive
ear, cry’d, Liberty, Liberty; we are freemen.

These free men organized themselves into groups
of ten pirates each and from each group, they elected a representative
to enact laws to govern Libertalia. The pirates divided all treasure
and cattle equally among themselves. If someone worked a plot of
land, then he owned that land. Numerous structures of fine quality
were built and everyone helped to erect a state house. The pirates
elected Misson conservator of the enclave for a period of three years.
A delegation of pirates met at least once a year to decide all issues of
import to the pirates and their community, and nothing could be done without
their consent.

Thomas Tew, a famous pirate captain who actually existed,
was named admiral of Libertalia’s fleet of ships and charged with enticing
more pirates to join the enclave. He was also responsible for protecting
the fortified harbor, marketplace, and homes. While in search of
more recruits, Tew became stranded. With insufficient men left to
protect Libertalia, Misson failed to prevent the natives from attacking
the enclave and killing men, women, and children. He and forty-five
other pirates managed to escape with some of the gold and diamonds they
had plundered. After Misson found Tew, the two men decided to return
to America rather than Libertalia. Misson never made it, though.
His ship sank during a storm and all hands were lost.

In 1698 the pirates of Madagascar were offered pardons,
which many took, in part because squadrons of warships now patrolled the
Indian Ocean and Red Sea in ever increasing numbers. Madagascar’s
popularity and population declined. By 1711 less than one hundred
pirates remained on the island. Those who continued to call Île
Sainte Marie home lived in squalor and had little money. Not until
1719 when Woodes
Rogers succeeded in driving the pirates from New Providence in the
Bahamas would Madagascar reclaim its popularity with the pirates.
At that time pirates such as Christopher Condent and Edward England chose
Madagascar as their base of operations.